You are watching a free tutorial from Lighting 101.
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You are watching a free tutorial from Lighting 101.
To view the entire course, upgrade to Premium or purchase it in the SLR Lounge Store.
In this video, I want to demonstrate the purpose of bouncing light overhead as a means of creating interesting definition and powerful highlights. With just a simple adjustment in position, your flash is modified to produce directional and controlled light.
Make Sure Your Ceiling is White for Best Results
Since our light is being bounced off of the ceiling, we want to make sure that there is no color being transferred into our scene. Your best bet to ensure this is to bounce light off of a white ceiling or use a v-flat in order to lessen the amount and spread of light dramatically. Aiming the flash directly at your subject fills in all shadows on the muscles therefore reducing the appearance of tone and definition.

Direct Flash

Directional Flash
Use a Snoot/Grid and Flash Zoom To Modify Light Spread
Now that we have our bounce prepared we can focus on the spread of light we desire. By changing the zoom settings on your flash, you are concentrating the light on a specific portion of the ceiling or v-flat without having it spread across. We can also modify and pinpoint our spread of light by using a Snoot or a Grid, the latter being easier to use because generally we are not bouncing far enough to use a Snoot.
Bright Non-Colored Surfaces vs. Reflective Surfaces
Bouncing light against a bright white surface will result in more diffused light being spread. Using a reflective surface, such as a silver reflector, will produce a more specular light. For this shot, the specular light was better because the harsher shadows show more definition in the muscles.
- 1.1 Lighting 101 Trailer 6M 13S
- 1.2 Chapter 1 Intro 1M 14S
- 1.3 Why Just One On-Camera Flash
- 1.4 5 Reasons to Use Flash 10M 43S
- 1.5 4 Common Flash Myths 7M 5S
- 1.6 What Makes Flash Challenging
- 1.7 Chapter 1 Quiz: Getting over the Fear, Hype & Myths
- 2.1 Chapter 2 Intro
- 2.2 Flash-Strobe vs. Ambient-Constant Light
- 2.3 Flash vs. Ambient Light Exposure
- 2.4 Flash vs. Ambient Demo
- 2.5 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Natural Effect
- 2.6 Assignment: Balancing Flash & Ambient for Natural Effects
- 2.7 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Dramatic Effect 4M 29S
- 2.8 Chapter 2 Assignment 2: Balancing Flash & Ambient for Dramatic Effects
- 2.9 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Creative Effect
- 2.10 Assignment: Balancing Flash & Ambient Light for Creative Effects
- 2.11 Understanding Flash Duration
- 2.12 Chapter 2 Quiz: The Basics of Flash
- 3.1 Chapter 3 Intro
- 3.2 5 Common Key Light Patterns 8M 45S
- 3.3 5 Common Key Light Patterns with Diffusion + Fill
- 3.4 5 Common Secondary Light Patterns
- 3.5 3 Primary Subject Positions
- 3.6 Assignment: Flat Light Portrait
- 3.7 Assignment: Loop Lighting
- 3.8 Assignment: Butterfly Lighting
- 3.9 Assignment: Rembrandt Portrait
- 3.10 Assignment: Split Lighting
- 3.11 Light Qualities 10M 3S
- 3.12 The Inverse Square Law 8M 20S
- 3.13 Inverse Square Law In Practice
- 3.14 Corrective White Balance
- 3.15 Creative White Balance 6M 4S
- 3.16 Assignment: Creative White Balance
- 3.17 Chapter 3 Quiz: Understanding Light
- 4.1 Chapter 4 Intro
- 4.2 On Board vs. Hot Shoe Flash
- 4.3 Full Feature vs. Manual Flashes 9M 6S
- 4.4 TTL vs. Manual Control
- 4.5 TTL vs. Manual Recycle Times
- 4.6 Flash Power & Zoom
- 4.7 HSS vs. ND Filters
- 4.8 Assignment: HSS vs. ND
- 4.9 FCS vs. RCS
- 4.10 Chapter 4 Quiz: On-Camera Flash Gear Basics
- 5.1 Chapter 5 Intro
- 5.2 4 Tips When You Must Use Direct Flash 6M 26S
- 5.3 Bare Bulbing Done Right
- 5.4 Assignment: Bare Bulb Flash Portrait
- 5.5 Grid Snoot + Direct Flash
- 5.6 Assignment: Grid/Snoot + Direct Flash Portrait
- 5.7 Mini Beauty + Direct Flash
- 5.8 Ring + Direct Flash
- 5.9 Assignment: Direct Flash with Modifier Portrait
- 5.10 Understanding Modifiers 9M 17S
- 5.11 Exercise: Understanding Modifiers
- 5.12 Direct Flash + Shutter Drags 9M 31S
- 5.13 Chapter 5 Assignment: Direct Flash + Shutter Drags
- 5.14 Chapter 5 Quiz: Direct Flash Done Right!
- 6.1 Chapter 6 Intro
- 6.2 Ambient vs. Direct Flash vs. Bounce Flash
- 6.3 Silver Bounce
- 6.4 More Light Silver + White
- 6.5 Assignment: Silver Bounce
- 6.6 Soft White Bounce
- 6.7 Assignment: Soft White Bounce
- 6.8 Overhead Bounce 11M 40S
- 6.9 Overhead Bounce + Fill
- 6.10 Assignment: Overhead Bounce
- 6.11 Event Bounce
- 6.12 Chapter 6 Quiz: Studio Light? Just Bounce It!
- 7.1 Chapter 7 Intro
- 7.2 Dramatic vs. Natural Light
- 7.3 Filling and Refining Existing Light
- 7.4 Multi-Point Light Setups 13M 52S
- 7.5 Assignment: Multi-Point Light Setups
- 7.6 Using Gels for Creative Effects vs. Corrective Effects
- 7.7 Assignment: Coloring Light for Creative Effect
- 7.8 Chapter 7 Quiz: More Lights, Refinement and Creativity
- 8.1 Chapter 8 Intro
- 8.2 Case Study 1 | Dramatic Sunset
- 8.3 Case Study 2 | Desert Sunset
- 8.4 Case Study 3 | Sinister Headshot
- 8.5 Case Study 4 | Quick Lighting for Family Portraits 8M 15S
- 8.6 Case Study 5 | Athlete Portraits
- 8.7 Case Study 6 | Working Angles
- 8.8 Case Study 7 | Drag + Composite
- 8.9 Case Study 8 | Less Is More
Total Course Run Time 8H 45M 48S
Course Progression
Tutorials Completed 0 / 66
Quizzes Completed 0 / 7
Assignment Completed 17 / 19
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